UConn basketball....

[upstater]

No, it isn't. As someone right above you pointed out, Cinci and SMU. Conference may be a small factor but it isn't some massive albatross and it never will be, no matter how many times people say it is.

In the same way, the Big East isn't some major draw to top recruits. We have the P5, not some fictious P6 or P5+. People made that up to explain why we suck and Nova doesn't. Besides Nova, how do people explain Gonzaga? Do we have a P7 now?

The real reason why Cinci, SMU, Nova and Gonzaga win as much as they do is coaching. A great coach can win from within any conference. You can win more consistently and have a better shot of winning it all if you are in a P5 conference but you can still win from within a non-P5 conference and you can still get to the final four and you can still even win a championship. The Big East was not P5 before Nova won it all and still isn't, period. Coaching matters.

There's a huge disconnect on the Boneyard. People are referring to the drop in recruiting as an AAC fault. But then others mention SMU and Cincy (which haven't done much in the postseason) without noticing that SMU and Cincy don't recruit well.

 

[Bobol]

Here are some facts, not opinions, which the AAC apologists can chew on:

* In 2016 the American Athletic Conference put 4 of its 11 schools (36%) in the men's NCAA Tournament with UConnits highest seed at and 8 seed while the Big East put 5 team of its 10 teams (being 50%) into the NCAA Tournament with 2 two seeds. A Big East team won the National Championship.

* In 2017 the American Athletic Conference put a whopping 2 of I'd 22 teams (being 18%) in the men's NCAA Tournament while the Big East put 7 of its 10 teams (being 70%) into the NCAA Tournament.

The "flat earth" apologies for he American Conference must understand that the AAC is eroding The brand of UConn men's basketball. UConn is allowing it's men's basketball program to be trivialized in hopes that maybe someday at an unknown time in the future it may perhaps get an invite to the ACC.

The time has come for AD David Benedict to call Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman to determine whether there is mutual interests in UConn rejoining the Big East.

 

[chickenhead]

No, it isn't. As someone right above you pointed out, Cinci and SMU. Conference may be a small factor but it isn't some massive albatross and it never will be, no matter how many times people say it is.

In the same way, the Big East isn't some major draw to top recruits. We have the P5, not some fictious P6 or P5+. People made that up to explain why we suck and Nova doesn't. Besides Nova, how do people explain Gonzaga? Do we have a P7 now?

The real reason why Cinci, SMU, Nova and Gonzaga win as much as they do is coaching. A great coach can win from within any conference. You can win more consistently and have a better shot of winning it all if you are in a P5 conference but you can still win from within a non-P5 conference and you can still get to the final four and you can still even win a championship. The Big East was not P5 before Nova won it all and still isn't, period. Coaching matters.

Quick scan of ESPN Top 100 in 2016/17 has BE with 8 & 7 Top 100 recruits and AAC with 5 & 0 over these years. I was concerned with the BE ability to recruit but so far, it hasn't been a problem. In 247 Sports 2017 team rankings, Marquette is the 7th rated BE team at #55. SMU is the top AAC team at #58.

2017 Basketball Team Rankings

 

[3rdbass]

He has more than this year.

And maybe when SMU and Cincy advance to the second weekend, I'll pay more attention.

The point is there programs didn't fall down like UCONN. SMU has actually gotten better while Cincy has remained being a second round knockout each year. Also, a team like Gonzaga and recently Wichita State have been able to maintain very competitive teams in bad conferences.

If you don't think KO won't get fired if we finish at .500 or below than that is your opinion. I think Benedict is not going to tolerate the basketball program falling into oblivion. I agree if KO is on the bubble of the NCAA's he will get one more year to prove himself.

 

[Walker11]

SMU was coming from a crappier league, so they increased performance. Cincy though has increased performance? They haven't advanced very far in the NCAAs.

I believe they have been more Consistently been ranked in the top 25, i.e. more nationally relevant than they were in the old Big East but I don't feel like researching it and I very well could be wrong. Maybe @kobe could chime in. I imagine you and I are on the same page for the most part in that the AAC is not destroying our program so I hope you save your energy for the @Bobol types of the world.

 

[EBonz30]

With all this negativity, I decided to watch the 2014 Final Four & National Championship game this morning...

Like Ollie & Napier stated had to be "hungry Huskies" with being down & out two years ago.

Sounds like we are in a familiar situation right now, for all the naysayers go find another website or message board to troll on, trust is in KO, Adams, & the rest of the Huskies.

#HuskyNation

 

[upstater]

Mau, your thread hasn't had the desired impact.

 

[Paesano]

You guys and your "Cinci and SMU" spew. What have they won? They've won more games than us in the AAC yep no doubt but what have they done with it seriously, what? They win nothing else so what does that tell you about how they are able to sustain from this conference, they can't beat anyone outside of it when it counts. Does it say much for us at this point,no it doesn't but to actually believe they've accomplished anything is ridiculous. Our expectations are what they because of what we've accomplished, they haven't sniffed anything that UConn has.

By the way "great coaches" probably win NC's too, but yeah you're right Mick and the new guy at SMU are on track. I mean look at those great runs on the NCAA tourney LOL

Yeah, we will be LOLing if we have another two seasons of winning less than SMU and Cinci. But you keep pointing to that post season run in 2014 with Calhoun's players as proof that we are better off than those teams. If Ollie can get Calhoun to pick and develop players, we may see another miracle run in the NCAAs. By the way, I was at the UConn/St. Joe's game in 2014. St. Joe's outplayed us and Ollie's whole "legacy" hinged on a rare great play by Brimah. Other than that run, Ollie doesn't have much to point to. Even that regular season was mediocre by UConn standards. If this conference sucks so much and SMU and Cinci have such chokers as coaches, WIN THE DAMN CONFERENCE REGULAR SEASON!!!!

Some of you guys are so damned obtuse.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Say what you want about our history and the kids we have had in the past, but our current situation is bleak.

Head Coach that has no control over the program, a downward trend on the court, toxic in recruiting right now and in a bad league.

Ollie needs to show us something on the court this season and him and Chill need to start making an impact in recruiting. For all the noise about Chill we've lost out of his Washington guys and now lost to St. John's on one of our last shots for 2017.

2018 is a make or break year for UConn hoops in the near future.

 

[EBonz30]

Say what you want about our history and the kids we have had in the past, but our current situation is bleak.

Head Coach that has no control over the program, a downward trend on the court, toxic in recruiting right now and in a bad league.

Ollie needs to show us something on the court this season and him and Chill need to start making an impact in recruiting. For all the noise about Chill we've lost out of his Washington guys and now lost to St. John's on one of our last shots for 2017.

2018 is a make or break year for UConn hoops in the near future.

Agreed, Chill has shown nothing yet, which is disturbing. Hopefully Ollie & Chill can put it together, I've seen enough out of Ollie which makes he think he will and if he doesn't he will be a strong coach somewhere else.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Agreed, Chill has shown nothing yet, which is disturbing. Hopefully Ollie & Chill can put it together, I've seen enough out of Ollie which makes he think he will and if he doesn't he will be a strong coach somewhere else.

It's tough for me to get too down on Chill for entering the situation late in the game and under less than ideal circumstances, but jeez, we didn't ask him to beat out Duke and Kentucky for 5* kids.

Ollie, we've seen the good, bad and ugly. I'm hoping against recent evidence that 2018 KO can lead us back to the NCAAs.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yeah, we will be LOLing if we have another two seasons of winning less than SMU and Cinci. But you keep pointing to that post season run in 2014 with Calhoun's players as proof that we are better off than those teams. If Ollie can get Calhoun to pick and develop players, we may see another miracle run in the NCAAs. By the way, I was at the UConn/St. Joe's game in 2014. St. Joe's outplayed us and Ollie's whole "legacy" hinged on a rare great play by Brimah. Other than that run, Ollie doesn't have much to point to. Even that regular season was mediocre by UConn standards. If this conference sucks so much and SMU and Cinci have such chokers as coaches, WIN THE DAMN CONFERENCE REGULAR SEASON!!!!

Some of you guys are so damned obtuse.

Wow how pitiful you are. JC never gutted out a game as a coach when his team was outplayed?......and IF my aunt had balls. If KO didn't win that one he wouldn't have beaten Villanova, Iowa State, Michigan State, Florida and Kentucky either so big FI huh? Ridiculous

And you still haven't answered the damn question what the hell are Cinci and SMU doing that's so great "keeping up"? One side of the mouth says the league sucks and we need to win the other side says they are killing us. We beat Colorado in the tourney 2 years ago and you guys bitched about that season, how many have those 2 won in the tourney? Let's hear some more BS

 

[UConniki]

SMU was coming from a crappier league, so they increased performance. Cincy though has increased performance? They haven't advanced very far in the NCAAs.

You are putting down Cincy record of 30-6 vs our 15-17 being in the same league both former Big East schools. It is the coach..... nothing more nothing less. Not the damn league.

 

[Goat]

2016-2017 has certainly been a difficult season to be a Husky fan. I think the Boneyard has made the frustration and disappointment worse because the medium amplifies the negativity and makes it seem to grow.

When Calhoun made KO head coach, I presumed that there would be growing pains. Did you all expect that his experiences would make his assumption of responsibility error free? The odds against his NC are far higher than the odds of the injuries that occurred this year. Stuff happens. So, I would say ride it out.

UConn appears to be squeaky clean. Larry F N Brown recruited Emmaneul Mudiay who committed and didn't come - eligibility questions and other opportunities. Then, there was Keith Frazier. That makes KO look good to me.

If clean recruiting is the weakness, and I would not freely concede that looking at last year's class before injury, I think KO has taken steps to address that deficit by upgrading staff skills in the area. I would still suggest that KO has credentials that should wow kids and, especially, their parents. I would also observe that more of the late highly ranked commits seem to be playing games in addition to looking for the best opportunity for their basketball future. Some programs chasing them are also more desperate and, maybe, more willing to do out of the box things to win a recruit.

I have 2 questions for those of you who see this as an issue of conference realignment, which KO had nothing to do with and can't control. If you really believe that top players cannot be recruited to the AAC, (1) wouldn't that mean that KO should not be blamed for failing to do so and (2) what makes you think that UConn could recruit a top coach to face the challenge of recruiting in the AAC? There are 10 active men's college basketball coaches with national championships, as Steve Fisher retired at SDSU. We don't want Boehiem. Ollie would be leaving. Which of the other 8 are coming here?

I would personally be disappointed in KO leaving UConn. If he does, I am certain he will find success in the NBA, where I think his management skills are more compatible. You get the best player left when it's your turn in the draft, people who don't fit your team chemistry can be traded. I think part of the problem is that KO always gave 100% and NBA players all work much harder than college players or they get traded or cut. KO can't do that with a college player. I think he'll figure out how to motivate college kids if he is given the chance.

I can also imagine KO coming back to Storrs after NBA success. HCKO 2.0 certainly sounds better to me than HCRE 2.0.

 

[Paesano]

Wow how pitiful you are. JC never gutted out a game as a coach when his team was outplayed?.and IF my aunt had balls. If KO didn't win that one he wouldn't have beaten Villanova, Iowa State, Michigan State, Florida and Kentucky either so big FI huh? Ridiculous

And you still haven't answered the damn question what the hell are Cinci and SMU doing that's so great "keeping up"? One side of the mouth says the league sucks and we need to win the other side says they are killing us. We beat Colorado in the tourney 2 years ago and you guys bitched about that season, how many have those 2 won in the tourney? Let's hear some more BS

No. Pitiful is not having the balls to accept our situation for what it is. What I am is miserable. I admit it. I am more demanding than most people, I set higher expectations and then I get more miserable when things are as bad as they are now.

Ollie did a great job coaching in that tournament. I admit that. But you can't bury your head with respect to the regular season performances. I don't know why our 2013/2014 regular season was mediocre with THAT team in THAT conference but it was. It points to coaching deficiencies. The run in the post season points to coaching strengths. There is, and always has been, two sides to this coin. Some people simply are unable or unwilling to see the other side and that goes for everyone.

If we continue to underperform Cincy and SMU and we don't get another miraculous post season run, Ollie's days are numbered, period.

Listen, I like the guy. I want him to succeed. Right now the program is a dumpster fire and heading in the wrong direction. I will freely admit I am wrong if time proves me wrong but I have serious doubts about KO being a great head coach. I, honestly, think his best position would be as an associate coach in the NBA. He is a fantastic right hand man. It is perfect for him. We shall see how this plays out.

 

[boog204]

It's tough for me to get too down on Chill for entering the situation late in the game and under less than ideal circumstances, but jeez, we didn't ask him to beat out Duke and Kentucky for 5* kids.

Ollie, we've seen the good, bad and ugly. I'm hoping against recent evidence that 2018 KO can lead us back to the NCAAs.

Yup, can't get on Chill just yet... The 2018 class will be his to prove he is as good a recruiter as we think. The damage was already done when he had to come in and try to convince kids that the toxicity of the program was just a mirage.

 

[upstater]

You are putting down Cincy record of 30-6 vs our 15-17 being in the same league both former Big East schools. It is the coach..... nothing more nothing less. Not the damn league.

So now we're going year to year

 

[Pudge]

Imagine Caupain and Gary Clark injured before November 15th.

The notion that you all get to toss whatever garbage that comes to mind is obnoxious. There's few programs from #10 to 50 that COULD lose 2 of their top 3 players - for the year - and do a MM run. What do I ascribe our losing 3 players with potential? Wake up for KO

Yes I've been around here a long time. Few top Big recruits would want to play for Calhoun in the first dozen years. Kinda like Huggins today. The toughness quotient doesn't play well & did not in 1990 either. Ollie didn't coddle. And we have a sincere challenge in Bigs. I'm here to say it's not our first time that place.

Bleak?
Nope you're bleak. My two degrees are from UConn & UCLA - as time rolls along, I'm discouraged to see the two fan bases have frighteningly simular entitled arrogance. (But it's easier to recruit to Westwood) We collectively need to root KO to a solid 2017-2018 campaign. Steps from there. The Chillious reboot was entirely integral to that goal. Ollie was stuck. No one gave us the right to conference titles and MM. JalenAdams TerryLarrier & others need to have career making years. I think they do.

As for the BE idea. That's crazy. That grouping does nothing for our bigger strategic fit. I do think the AAC is upgrading - marginally.

 

[AntG168]

Imagine Caupain and Gary Clark injured before November 15th.

The notion that you all get to toss whatever garbage that comes to mind is obnoxious. There's few programs from #10 to 50 that COULD lose 2 of their top 3 players - for the year - and do a MM run. What do I ascribe our losing 3 players with potential? Wake up for KO

Yes I've been around here a long time. Few top Big recruits would want to play for Calhoun in the first dozen years. Kinda like Huggins today. The toughness quotient doesn't play well & did not in 1990 either. Ollie didn't coddle. And we have a sincere challenge in Bigs. I'm here to say it's not our first time that place.

Bleak?
Nope you're bleak. My two degrees are from UConn & UCLA - as time rolls along, I'm discouraged to see the two fan bases have frighteningly simular entitled arrogance. (But it's easier to recruit to Westwood) We collectively need to root KO to a solid 2017-2018 campaign. Steps from there. The Chillious reboot was entirely integral to that goal. Ollie was stuck. No one gave us the right to conference titles and MM. JalenAdams TerryLarrier & others need to have career making years. I think they do.

As for the BE idea. That's crazy. That grouping does nothing for our bigger strategic fit. I do think the AAC is upgrading - marginally.

No ever wants to tell the whole story. Comparing us to cincy last yr while totally ignoring how we were decimated by injuries is why ppl get accused of just being negative. There is enough to be negative about, why invent more

 

[upstater]

No ever wants to tell the whole story. Comparing us to cincy last yr while totally ignoring how we were decimated by injuries is why ppl get accused of just being negative. There is enough to be negative about, why invent more

People don't get that the people backing Ollie want the program to do better than Cincy, as it has in 2 of the last 4 years.

One of the ways to do that is to out recruit Cincy, which it has in the 4 classes prior to this one.

 

[Danzz]

You are putting down Cincy record of 30-6 vs our 15-17 being in the same league both former Big East schools. It is the coach..... nothing more nothing less. Not the damn league.

Figures you would get a like from Freescooter. You two should start a club.

 

[Palatine]

Its even more simple than wins and losses. Its a fanbase, an older fanbase, who has to temper expectations. Unfortunately, this is the new UConn reality. The program of the past 25 years is no longer.

NO WAY.

Maybe millennials are in love with mediocrity. But my old man expectations for this program start at the Sweet Sixteen.

Nothing less than excellence should be the expectation.

 

[zepfan]

You can't win at a high level without the talent on the floor and on the bench. It's no more complicated than that. JC was a great coach because he had an iron will which he imparted to his players, he knew how to push his players to achieve maximum effort, and he recruited the horses that could go toe-to-toe with any kids they stepped onto the floor with. In my opinion, Ollie has the first two qualities, but I am not sure about the third (recruiting). He won the NC in 2014 because Shabazz hit shots that few other players could. Same with JC in 2011 with Kemba. In 2004 they were one of the most talented teams in the country and in 1999 they were tough as nails, with Khalid, Moore, Hamilton and Freeman. What player on the 2016/17 team, other than Adams is anywhere near the player these four were? In 1999, against Duke in the final, Khalid goes out early with foul trouble and Ricky Moore shows us offense he never had all year because he knew he had to step up. Calhoun brought players who could win. He did the best building job in the history of the NCAA (per JB up in Syracuse). One or two of the right players and Ollie will be fine. Vance Jackson couldn't play D. Not a UConn player - had to go. I agree with all those who say we have to win next year. If not, then the downward slide is real. I am going to keep hope up that KO and Chill will find a player or two that will make all this go away. We could use a small forward!

 

[intlzncster]

The UConn brand has taken a far bigger hit than any of us could have imagined being in the aac directional league. I've been a big proponent of waiting it out for a P5 offer, but it's been 5 years and it's not happening. I don't care where the hell the football program goes or if it's cut just put hoops back in the Big east where it belongs.

Thing is most people, myself included, think that's a long term death sentence for CBB too. I see the BE floundering eventually, especially if the P5 break from the NCAA and form their own thing. Money and TV control everything, and that's driven by football and football alone.

 

[mauconnfan]

No. Pitiful is not having the balls to accept our situation for what it is. What I am is miserable. I admit it. I am more demanding than most people, I set higher expectations and then I get more miserable when things are as bad as they are now.

Ollie did a great job coaching in that tournament. I admit that. But you can't bury your head with respect to the regular season performances. I don't know why our 2013/2014 regular season was mediocre with THAT team in THAT conference but it was. It points to coaching deficiencies. The run in the post season points to coaching strengths. There is, and always has been, two sides to this coin. Some people simply are unable or unwilling to see the other side and that goes for everyone.

If we continue to underperform Cincy and SMU and we don't get another miraculous post season run, Ollie's days are numbered, period.

Listen, I like the guy. I want him to succeed. Right now the program is a dumpster fire and heading in the wrong direction. I will freely admit I am wrong if time proves me wrong but I have serious doubts about KO being a great head coach. I, honestly, think his best position would be as an associate coach in the NBA. He is a fantastic right hand man. It is perfect for him. We shall see how this plays out.

I have admitted plenty of times of the issues at hand by the way just don't take that wrong turn off the cliff I'm afraid.

Fair enough though and I do agree, you are miserable.